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Legal advice, about previous apartment
From august 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 I lived in an apartment complex that I had many complaints about, the only reason my roommates and I stayed a second year was because of how conventionally located it was to campus.
Within the past two years we were charged for our smoke alarms being "tampered with" and charged even though we denied and explained we had just moved in and nothing was done, they didn't take the fee off.
All our appliances would break and take forever for them to fix it.
The apartment locks were always broken and any key could open any person's apartment if you just jiggled it the right way.
Over all it was a terrible place and we wanted to sue for all the stuff we had to deal with but none of us could find the right 'legal' reasons to do so....
During the 2 years we went through 4 sets of different managers because everyone kept getting fired but before that promising things that wouldn't get fixed.
Point is... it was just in the news that the city has finally discovered what this apartment complex really is :a piece of you know what.
And has found over 100 violations against them in terms of health and safety violations.
I am wondering if NOW, finally that there has been light shone on the situation, now that the evidence is finally out there and the many violations...is there anyway I can sue? or get reimbursed?
I mean,there probably isn't, but I'm just curious because we lived there and brought up to the current manager our concerns about safety (someone through a works bomb on our porch and management did absolutely nothing)...
Is there anything I can file to get some re-reimbursement? It was a A LOT of money to pay for such terrible conditions.
If there is nothing I can do -- please just say so, I'm not asking for a rude reply or somoene saying I'm dumb.
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Clearly, you weren't the only ones wronged. Do you still have contact with former tenants? It may be best to band together and try for a class-action lawsuit. The complex is going to have a very hard time defending against claims from multiple tenants.
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Check with your local District Court to see if they have a Renter Court. This Court is a Court of Common Pleas court or Small Claims Court, though specifically set up to hear cases concerning renters and landlords.
Some of these Courts have lawyers or third year law students available to advice renters on their rights and how to go about filing an action in this court. This court in many jurisdictions is a lot like Judge Judy's court. No lawyers just you and the landlord.
Common Pleas means there is no real statued law and the Judge decides the law based on the claim and any rights you may have had based on any contract you may have had; verbal or otherwise. Rules of evidence are relaxed and up to the Judge to decided what is and is not acceptable as evidence.
Do you have a case? Probably, can you bring it to court will depend on if there is a statued of limitations for doing so and the evidence you have to submit.
First find out if you have a renters court. If not you can always bring a claim in Small Claims Court. Generally this Court handles claims for amounts up to five or ten thousand dollars. This is also a court of Common Pleas.
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I'm not going say you absolutely can, but you may be able to. Go find an attorney/lawyer, and speak with him/her about it. I believe you will need proof of your stay there such as the original lease, etc, along with all the charges you had to pay. If you ever had to hire a company to come in and fix the problems that your (at the time(s)) landlord(s) refused or never fixed, be sure to also have those receipts or invoices on hand as well. I'm not a lawyer, so don't take my advice as 100% as you may not be capable of a reimbursement. But it never hurts to speak to one. Some do charge just to talk to them, while others charge you nothing. So be sure to look around as well.
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